Abdul-Hakim Shabazz: Detroit's warning for Indy

7:11 PM,
Jul. 26, 2013

David Flaherty, CEO of Flaherty & Collins Properties, speaks about the $81 million development planned on the site of the former Market Square Arena. The city will hand over $17.8 million in subsidies for the 28-story tower project that will include 300 apartments, a 500-space parking garage and street-level retail space.

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Abdul-Hakim Shabazz

When the city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy, all I could think of was the "Robocop" movie franchise. Here was the crux of the films: Things got so bad in old Detroit that the people left, there was less tax revenue, the quality of life dropped, crime got out of control and, the next thing you know, OCP is taking over the city and there are ED-209's on every corner.

It's funny how art can imitate life, without the cyborgs. It's also funny how I can draw some parallels between Indianapolis and Detroit. If Indianapolis isn't careful, it will turn into Detroit, ironically because of a desire to spend ...